- Photo credit: Tom Cubbage
PURPOSE: This website and blog is being constructed continuously through Christine’s personal learning about bluebirding — first as a new bluebird “watcher” in the Spring of 2006 – to starting her own small bluebird trail in 2007-2008 to help the local Eastern Bluebirds thrive. It is Christine’s hope that this is visually appealing, informative, educational, inspiring, and will ultimately help you understand the passion and her own enthusiasm and joy in helping this lovely bird. Please leave comments! Your Email address remains private. Thank you!
- 2009 Award for “County Coordinator of the Year”. With Christine is the VBS’President and State Coordinator. The conference was held at the Claytor Nature Study and Education Center (Lynchburg College) in Bedford, VA, on November 7, 2009. Christine was recognized for her efforts in Patrick County and has agreed to also be County Coordinator for Floyd County starting the 2010 season.
The Eastern Bluebird was one of Virginia’s most common songbirds 100 years ago, but their numbers sharply declined through the years in North America due to harsh winters, urban sprawl, lack of dead trees or snags, the introduction of the invasive house sparrow and starling from Europe, a decline in winter food (native berries), pesticides and herbicides, like glyphosate, which can kill bluebirds very quickly, and to predators. Thanks to conservation efforts, such as establishing and monitoring bluebird nestboxes using predator guards, their numbers have increased!
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Christine lives in the Blue Ridge Highlands in Southwest Virginia. She is formerly from the Chicago suburbs where she never saw a bluebird! She is a volunteer for the non-profit Virginia Bluebird Society (VBS) as County Coordinator for both Patrick and Floyd Counties. Christine established the Woolwine House Bluebird Trail commencing Spring 2008. In monitoring and maintaining the nestboxes, Christine follows the VBS and Virginia Society of Ornithology’s (VSO) Principles of Birding Ethics while collecting accurate records of the cycle of nest building; egg laying, incubating, and counts eggs and hatchings and fledgings of the baby bluebirds. Monitoring detects problems early and provide a greater chance of survival for protected cavity-nesting birds such as the chickadee, titmouse, nuthatch, tree swallow, and the wren; while also looking for signs of house sparrow nesting, ants, blowflies, and wasps that deter and kill birds using the nestboxes and administers remedies to discourage them. The use of predator guards minimize the chance that snakes, squirrels, raccoons, large birds, mice, and cats that prey on the eggs and nestlings. Christine is on the Speaker’s Bureau for the North American Bluebird Society (NABS) and conducts free educational presentations and workshops to local groups, trains beginners in proper nestbox selection and installation and monitoring using VBS recommendations, and will coordinate and include that data for the VBS which is kept in the state’s records and forwarded to NABS and the Transcontinental Bluebird Trail in North America. Christine thoroughly enjoyed attending the 2009 NABS Annual Conference in September Grantville, PA.
The easiest way to reach me is to call my mobile device and leave a message with your contact info. I will call you back as soon as possible. (703) 919-4302. Thank you!
The Virginia Bluebird Society (VBS) is an affiliate of the North American Bluebird Society (NABS) and is a Chapter of the Virginia Society of Ornithology (VSO). It was founded in 1998 to promote bluebirds and other native cavity nesters in Virginia. The Virginia Bluebird Society offers grants for new or refurbished bluebird trails on public lands, for Youth and Scouts groups, and other non-profit/charity organizations interested in installing and monitoring nestboxes. For more information on the joys of bluebirding, installing a nestbox or a monitored bluebird trail, sponsoring a nestbox for the VBS, or VBS grants, contact Christine through this website/blog: http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com or refer to the VBS website: http://www.virginiabluebirds.org
Christine thanks Carl, her neighbor, for helping her build and install the trail. In addition, many thanks go to the private residents and the Dutchies View Bed and Breakfast , The Mountain Rose Inn, Griffith Lumber, Wade’s Orchard and Farm Stand, and residents in Patrick County for their support in the Woolwine House Bluebird Trail and allowing Christine to install and monitor nestboxes on their properties. Christine hopes you are enjoying learning about bluebirds through her Woolwine House Bluebird Trail website and blog.
Christine is active on several online Listservs, including bluebirding on Bluebirds on Yahoo Groups and the Humnet-L sponsored by the Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, for Hummingbirds. Christine is also active with NestWatch online, also hosted by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Christine has joined the North Carolina Bluebird Society (NCBS) as of 2011. In addition to bluebirding and other birdwatching, Christine anticipates the hummingbirds to arrive each Spring through a migration map online and maintained by Lanny Chambers: http://www.hummingbirds.net/ At home, there are usually 12-15 hummingbird feeders surrounding the house and hanging from tree branches in sitting areas throughout the property for a delightful show of the smallest and fastest birds and their humorous antics and beautiful agile flight patterns. Nectar is made daily at the Woolwine House kitchen averaging a gallon of fresh nectar made each day. Christine continues to use her new digital camera to practice photographing these quick birds…always a challenge. Christine’s other interests include: Digital and Film Photography, Technology and Graphics, Computers, Investigations, Vintage Homes and Country Inns, Antiquing, Horses, Tibetan Terriers, Music Appreciation, Hummingbirds, Country Living, Steam Trains and Excursions, and Wildlife Watching.
Would you like to experience the pure joy of finding these in a nestbox?
Do you have a group interested in hearing more about bluebirds? Christine is happy to make a presentation to introduce your group to the joys of bluebirding! Grants are available through the Virginia Bluebird Society for your non-profit group wanting to put up a bluebird trail or to refurbish an old abandoned trail. Contact Christine for more information:
VOICEMAIL: 703.919.4302
Please leave a message with your contact information and a convenient time to call you back. Or you can contact me by leaving your name and phone number or Email address privately on this blog and it won’t be published to this website. I will call you back. Thank you, and I hope you, too, can join me in my passion for these lovely birds.
Thanks for visiting my bluebird site! Please feel free to leave comments on this site with your first name only. Your privacy is important to me — your Email address remains private to the public on this site. All comments are screened in advance prior to posting publicly.
May blue skies and bluebirds bring you happiness! 
Box building....securing the roof.
The entry hole for Eastern Bluebirds should be 1.5 inches.
Getting the cut pieces together for finishing the construction.
- Hey, I’m getting the hang of this! Here is Chris and Carl with some feeling of accomplishment.Ready for installation for first year of the Woolwine House Bluebird Trail – 2008!New designs with good ventilation, drainage, large roof overhangs and before Noel guards. Christine is standing next to the one box that fledged two broods in 2007 nesting season. The boxers on the ground were installed in January 2008 for the first year of the trail. They were eventually retrofitted again on Carl’s pickup truck to side-openings and Noel hardware cloth guards added later.The Trail started with these! Oh, what has been learned since they’ve been installed.
RETURN TO THIS SITE’s HOME PAGE: http://woolwinehousebluebirdtrail.com/
HI,
So i’m curious if you have seen a reduction in Blowflies with the Ditomaceous Earth treatments. i have recently lost 4 Bluebird hatchlings from what i think is blowflies. i have some insecticides available to me, but i would prefer to not use them. So far it’s been a good year for our Bluebirds here, but i’m irritated with the loss of a few new ones recently. Thanks for your response.
Nick
By: Nick on July 27, 2010
at 1:53 PM
Hi, Nick, thanks for posting your question. Yes, I’ve seen a reduction in the aftermath of what the blowfly larvae can do to the nestlings, but I cannot keep blowflies from going into nestboxes and laying their eggs there. That’s what the blowfly has been doing for centuries—nature’s way, if you will. The Diatomaceous Earth is an organic, silica-type finely-ground powder that kills the larvae after they hatch inside a birds nest. The powder causes the larvae to breathe in the powdery substance and basically they suffocate. I find blowflies enter into most of my bluebird boxes every year–this year even on first broods, which is a first on my trail ever. Usually it’s the second and third broods. I think because our Spring was warmer earlier during the first nesting cycle, the blowflies were also earlier. Here is how I do it: I apply a few puffs of the DE with a special applicator made for using DE inside the nesting material and near the bottom of each nest and centered underneath the bluebird eggs BEFORE they hatch–say around 4-5 days before predicted hatching dates. On my trail this year, it worked marvelously. I do not recommend using any insecticide inside a bluebird nestbox–too dangerous for the adult birds and even more for growing bluebird nestlings. I hope this helps answer your question. If you’d like to discuss this further with me, I’m happy to Email you privately. Just let me know!
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on July 28, 2010
at 10:30 PM
thanks for the response. I ordered and have recieved my DE. I still have two Bluebird houses with fledglings to come, they are both on their 3rd brood, amazing! The one box has three young ones that will fledge probably with in the next two days and the other is sitting on 4 eggs. When i inspected them this morning both boxes had little grubs/larvae at the bottom of the nest, the bottoms of the nest do not look like the pictures you posted though. It is very “dusty” per say at the bottom of the nest, so i’m going to try the DE. I guess i was really just curious as to where and when specifically you apply the DE, i would think i should do it before the eggs hatch right? Also how much, two or three puffs? at the bottom and middle of the nest? Do you clean out your boxes after each fledging or let the bluebirds nest right on top of the old nest? Thanks a lot for your help.
Nick
By: Nick on August 2, 2010
at 7:08 PM
DO apply the DE puffs very carefully innside center of the nest underneath the eggs but not near the eggs and BEFORE the eggs hatch–best time is to do it in the afternoon when the female is most likely to be off the nest looking for food. Try to do it a few days before hatching to give the dust a chance to settle in the nest before the babies hatch. The larvae are there growing and waiting for the nestlings to hatch so they can latch onto them as soon as they hatch. Do just a 1 to 3 small puffs, being careful not to have the dust go all over the box…..I do center inside the nest and one or two puffs underneath the nest next to the wood floor. This is the areas the larvae sleep during the day. They go up at night to latch onto the nestlings when the parents stop feeding the nestlings. If you see larvae by lifting the nest slightly, try to take a brush and brush as many as you can out without disturbing those eggs. They are fragile and can crack. If you can collect them in a plastic bag and not brush them out to the ground will help keep the smell of the nest off the ground (attracks ground predators like snakes). Once the nestlings fledge, DO CLEAN OUT THE OLD NEST and make sure the box is completely cleaned and washed inside from fecal matter and all larvae and all dust, including rermaining DE dust. I use a damp rag to wash the boxes and leave them open a day to dry out and then I go back in a day to close and secure the boxes again. Most old nests will have bacteria and possible parasites….not good for them to nest on top of an old nest. Also, it’s all part of the female’s building a new nest in the nesting cycle. A clean nest built by her is better all around. You may not get another nesting this late in the season, but it’s good to be prepared in case you do!
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on August 2, 2010
at 8:39 PM
Do you know if Diatomaceous Earth is ok for nests? We are expecting our purple martins and have huge problems with blowflies last year
Thanks
April
PS or how to use it?
By: april on April 14, 2010
at 6:52 PM
Hi, April. YES! I attended the NABS conference in September 2009 and learned from the incoming NABS President, Harry Schmeider, during his presentation about Diatomaceious Earth. I have ordered mine and will use for 2010. It’s the organic DE which I ordered a 2 lb bag and a “pest pistol” which will aid me in getting the right amount (not too much!) inside the nest so as not to hurt the nestlings eyes as they grow. I will still keep a few clean used bluebird nests on hand anyway for other emergencies (one each: pine needles and soft grasses). I may not need them this year. Hope not. Thanks for your note.
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on April 14, 2010
at 8:03 PM
Hi,
Came across your site while researching blue bird nest boxes. I live in a suburban setting but there are a few wooded and small farm lots near but not adjacent to me. I put up a box last year and think I saw a bluebird investigating but next thing saw house sparrows move in. Cleaned out that nest and then a house wren moved in, which I left. I dont think this box is as good as it shoud be since reading more on good box requirements. So I have been investigating on the web. Had read about 2 hole mansion and then found your site and your 2010 trial and would be interested in the progress. Also saw there is a modified 2 hole box plan that I believe has a larger slanted roof. Other designs that I saw included a dropped floor with a wire grate on bottom to discourage blowflows I think. Was looking for a combination of all these in one box but guess you have to make your own. I am very new to this but would like to go with a better design and take down old box. I did purchase a bluebird feeder box and plan to put out mealworms. Other than starting to plant for bluebirds and birds in general, I have mostly been researching in books and on the web. Funny I remembered the name of Woolwine when planning a trip through Virginia to North Carolina. Did not have the opportunity to stay there but considered the Mountain Rose B&B and see that you have a nestbox in that very location. Good luck and wish you much success in helping the blue birds. Look forward to hearing about the progress of this 2 hole mansion. Aside from the holes, I would like to see if the deeper dimension and wider floor space are advantageous. I will read your observations of this trail and other comments on blue birding. Thank you for helping them and thinking about something bigger than yourself. I think the proverb is Chinese and says one generation plants the tree and the next generation gets the shade. Like that one. Maybe one generation can make sure there are blue birds for the next. Best wishes and warm regards,
Char Gigante
By: Char Gigante on February 14, 2010
at 5:44 PM
Hi, Char. Thanks for your note here. I’ll write to you privately, as I have your Email address. The two-hole test has not started yet, but will this Spring 2010. Updates on the test will be posted on the tabbed page on this site as results come in. We are still inundated with snow pileup, now frozen solid–we’re still digging out! I believe our resident bluebirds have flown south some mileage to find more readily-available food sources…fruits mostly. I have not seen any bluebirds surrounding our property, even now, February 14, which is strange. The past several years, I see the males showing up on or around February 1st. It’s just been too harsh of a winter here in SW Virginia, extremly unusual for our location. House Sparrows and House Wrens are a very large problem on bluebird trails, depending on location. Stand by for an Email from me. I hope this site helps you in some way, and thanks for the post.
By: Woolwine House Bluebird Trail on February 14, 2010
at 7:28 PM
Congratulations to my very creative sister!
By: Paul Barnes on June 29, 2009
at 12:16 AM